1960 Pro Football Yearbook*

1960 was a watershed year for professional football, a year that--in the minds of many football historians--marked the beginning of the "modern era."

The most significant development, of course, was the debut of an entirely new pro league! After being rebuffed by the established league in an attempt to purchase an expansion club, a Texas millionaire decided to start his own league! Thus, a total of nine new football clubs lined up to do battle in the fall of 1960, dramatically increasing the presence of pro football on the national sports pages. Eight teams comprised the new league, while the established league added a new club of its own in Dallas to compete head-to-head with the new league's Dallas entry.

The established league conducted a season which featured close races in both conferences.

In the Eastern Conference, an aging Philadelphia squad rallied around their charismatic veteran quarterback to put together a season of over-achievement which produced a 10-2 record and unlikely conference and league championships. Cleveland, led by their hall-of-fame runner, was right behind with an 8-3-1 record and would have won the conference save for a 31-29 loss to Philadelphia in the season's fourth week. New York fielded a squad filled with many of the league's brightest stars, but gave the football away with amazing frequency, 49 turnovers in a 12 game season! Even with so many giveaways, "Big Blue" still finished with a winning record, at 6-4-2.

Pro football came to St. Louis in 1960, as one of the established league's Chicago franchises relocated south. The club responded with a surprising (and rare!) winning season, despite a murky situation at quarterback. Pittsburgh suffered through injury problems but a respectable defense and a late-season surge nudged them close to break-even, at 5-6-1. Washington occupied the basement of the eastern conference, winning only once all season, but fans were nonetheless entertained watching their gangly quarterback run for his life every week, pursued by waves of enemy pass-rushers.

The Western Conference featured a barn-burner of a title race between five teams, any of whom could have won all the marbles with a different outcome here or there. As it turned out, Green Bay earned the title with an 8-4 mark, ending the season with three straight wins over conference rivals. This was beginning of the Green-and-Gold Glory Years of the 1960s, and while the club's gap-toothed coach was unable to deliver a league championship in 1960 (they lost to Philadelphia 17-13 in the championship game), there would be many titles to come for this club in the near future! Detroit and San Francisco were right behind, with matching 7-5 records and similar clubs driven by stiff defenses featuring many of pro football's legendary defensive players of the 1950s and '60s. Baltimore seemed headed for an easy divisional title before losing their star fullback with a foot injury. The lack of a running game caused the club to drop its final four games and finish out of the running at 6-6. It was a similar story in Chicago, where "The Monsters of the Midway" held a 5-3-1 record, good for second place three-quarters of the way through the season. A 41-13 whipping by Green Bay put a damper on the club's hopes, and they lost the final two games by a combined margin of 78-0.

Los Angeles (4-7-1) and Dallas (0-11-1) rounded out the west, both clubs struggling through seasons of turmoil with new players, front offices and coaching staffs. Dallas, the established league's first expansion team, averted a perfect string of losses by managing a 31-31 tie with New York in the season's next-to-last game.

The upstart league began play featuring rosters largely filled with inexperienced, over-the-hill and widely unknown players. Pro football blue-bloods chortled as the new league struggled to gain a footing, and the new league had its share of difficulties and embarrassments. But the league captured fan interest with a wide-open style of play that many saw as fresher and more exciting than the brand played over in the established league. The league would survive the 1960 season, and be back for more.

Houston won the new league's first title, with a deep-threat passing game spearheaded by the veteran quarterback who would eventually retire with pro football all-time records for years played and points scored. Eastern division champions, they defeated Los Angeles in the championship game 24-16. New York featured the league's top-scoring offense, but a leaky defense allowed opponents to score points as fast as the offense could score them and the result was a break-even 7-7 record. Buffalo (5-8-1) and Boston (5-9) were clubs with modest strength on defense, but far too many offensive problems to be serious contenders.

Out west, Los Angeles had the league's most potent rushing attack, and was almost unstoppable by the end of the 1960 season, averaging nearly 50 points per game over the last four games. No club seriously challenged Los Angeles for the western conference title; runner-up Dallas finished 8-6, but only as a result of winning its final three games. Oakland got a late start in preparing for the 1960 season, having been awarded the eighth franchise when Minneapolis dropped out. (Minneapolis ownership was offered a franchise for 1961 in the established league, a move intended to sabotage the new league.) Despite a sparse roster, Oakland put together a respectable 6-8 campaign. Denver (4-9-1) drew up the rear of the new league's western division, with an all-out passing attack that drew mostly blanks.

With Second Season's 1960 Pro Football Yearbook, you can re-live this rich and historic season in professional football. All teams are rated to include the newest Second Season ratings enhancements. You get all twenty-one teams, both leagues--over 800 players* individually-rated.

*Abbreviated names are used to represent real-life pro football players in this yearbook. Players are identified by six-to-eight letter "codes," such as "john.unit" or "jim.brow."